Ceza probes online gaming

Philippines president seeks the total prohibition of online gambling activities.

Cagayan province of Philippines will contribute with a scrutiny team.

Philippines.- Last week, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the total shutdown of online gambling industry in the Asian country. Although the sector is still running, operators do not know when the authorities will implement the new policies. However, the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (Ceza) already announced its collaboration with the closure of online platforms.

Ceza will open its books of accounts and operations to grant the government the complete information on the gambling activity. The documents will be investigated by the national government’s team led by Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II.

“Ceza shall be open to the investigation of its online gaming support services operations, specifically its licensing process, actual operations, books of account, income flow, remittances to the government and other information that may be necessary or that may be required to clear up issues in the investigation,” expressed Ceza Administrator Jose Mari Ponce.

Online gambling operations will be especially probed by Duterte’s government in Cagayan, Aurora and Bataan. National officers suspect that those markets have been experiencing massive tax evasion. The latest announcement follows the news that the Philippines ordered the arresting of Macau’s gambling magnate Jack Lam also for seeming tax evasion.